Mentoring the next generation

(Photos are Included below) In a comment on my last project, I was asked by one of the members here in the Ljcks as follows: “I hope you are mentoring somebody from the next generation. What you have learned about “feeling the wood” shouldn’t be lost. So, actually I don’t have a training studio for training for the time being, may be in the future. On the other hand’ I already started to train my grandchild Asaf to carve. When he was 6.5 years old just before entering to the first class in the elementary school, he carved his self portrait.I asked him to come with his Swimming goggles and I equipped him with a mask for the nose and mouth.He was very excited to carve as his grandpa is doing and to use his tools.I printed one of his photos which had been taken a few months ago. I gave him a piece of wood and asked him to copy the picture to the wood.

I put a working table in front of a stair in order that he will be in the right position to work on the table. He was very excited to wear the mask “like the doctors”.

Gentle lines like tooth and nose holes were done by a pencil. Asaf raised a problem: the original photo was not up to date, since in the photo there was all his tooth and now he is missing some of them, so he insist to paint his tooth as the actual situation.

My son (14) comes to the shop every day after school. He mostly helps with my projects right now, but we are planning his first full on project for himself now. He loves it, and I’m sure he will keep at it. Feels good to have that time with him one on one, learning and BS’ing in the shop.